Beautiful Broken Rules
by Neddiemaybe11
Summary: It was a rule you didn't "hook-up" with Foster siblings. But that rule kept something beautiful from starting, something that required a specific thing to be broken.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_"There's nothing going on with Callie and me"_

He had promised his mother. And then he had meant it. Guitar lessons and a few conversations had remained innocent until a dance rehearsal.

Sure, before that he had found her interesting. She was damaged and closed off. But in a way the broken girl was beautiful. That simple fact was impossible to ignore.

Also, until a few hours previous he had a girlfriend. Now, he had a shoe. A shoe that resembled a wall of hers that he had torn through. Left shattered as Callie ran away to build it up again.

The rest of his family was cleaning up after the party but he had dropped off his father and gone home. Where he now found himself waiting for the return of the owner of the shoes.

A small thud, a kick against his foot made him look up. Callie's eyes bore back at him.

"Hey" he said shortly meeting her gaze. She instantly looked away, "where were you?" He questions.

His question went unanswered with a shake of Callie's head. Brandon stood to keep her there. The smell of beer like a punch reminded him of the reek his father had before.

"With Wyatt" she finally answered looking past him into the house. She wanted to get away. He could see the escape routes forming in her eyes. He shouldn't have said what he had.

"You should get inside. Do yourself a favor and don't let the moms smell you." Even with so much on his mind he looked out for her best interests.

"You should do yourself a favor, and stop pretending to care," she said shortly. After a few beers she realized the mistake of drinking one was, but it was too late and alcohol was in her system. She wasn't drunk. Just impaired.

She brushed past him and made her way to the house.

She heard the scariest worse from behind her, but she refused to stop.

"I do care Callie" and with that her pace up the stairs quickened.

* * *

It was too late to go back on it now, Callie thought to herself as she stood by the door. Wyatt was coming into to the Fosters home.

Mariana had told the moms about Callie's new boyfriend and now they just had to meet him.

"Best behavior? Or worst behavior?" Wyatt asked in his cool humor as he kissed her softly.

Kissing a guy like Wyatt wasn't anything new to Callie. She found it comforting in a strange way. The familiarity.

"Moms are waiting to meet him" Brandon shot from behind the couple standing at the door. The new harsh tone, well Brandon harsh, was a new thing. And it did not go unnoticed by Callie.

She did her best to ignore his burning gaze has they stepped around him to join the family in the kitchen.

Introductions were awkward, but slowly they were over. Then the night was coming to a close. By her surprise the Stef and Lena loved him. Jude thought he was nice, and that was all the mattered. So with a nod of her head Wyatt excused himself from the family, and Callie walked him out.

"You must be really good at acting," Callie complimented, as they made their way outside.

"Nah, just know what people want," Wyatt explained, when he noticed something over Callie's shoulder, behind the house. He almost smiled, but he didn't show that much emotion.

"And what do I want?" Callie teased. Neither showed that much emotion, their exchanges were dry at best, but that was okay. It was the way they communicated.

"This?" Wyatt questioned, backing Callie up against a tree, and kissing her lightly.

The kiss stayed light and pleasant, a hand danced into Wyatt's hair, and fingers found their way onto Callie's back. Their tongues mingled lightly, in a familiar dance. Familiarity, that's what Calllie liked. She didn't get it with the place she lived, but she could have it in a kiss.

Eventually Wyatt pulled back.

"You wanna go for a walk with me," he mumbled against the skin of her neck. His tone implied more than a walk, so Callie pushed him back lightly.

"I would, but, they'll be looking for me," Callie mumbled her excuse, and pressed a light kiss to Wyatt's lips.

"See you tomorrow?" he asks stepping away from the tree.

"Tomorrow," she agreed, before turning to walk towards the porch.

"Wyatt seems _nice_," Brandon said from his seat on the porch, he stood to meet Callie. Of course by that Brandon really meant, it would be real nice to punch Wyatt in the face.

He cared for Callie, that was it. But not really. He thought maybe there was more between them, neither would admit that though.

"And what does nice mean Brandon?" Callie asks arms crossover her chest in a move to protect herself.

"Nothing, nothing. Just that I thought you didn't want people to pretend to care about you. Because that's what he's doing," Brandon almost pouted with his words, he couldn't control them anymore, and he was upset.

Callie laughed. "That's just it Brandon. He doesn't pretend to care. He just plan out doesn't. Take a page out of his book, and stop. You don't get it," she replies shortly.

Now Brandon was slightly angry. His emotions had been lingering that way all night, but he couldn't take it. Why would you want to be with someone who doesn't care?

"What don't I get Callie?" he questioned reaching for her. She took a step back.

"If I have to explain it to you, you'll never get it," she said quietly turning on her heels and entering the house.

She had too much baggage to care anymore. She had almost let her guard down, when he said he didn't care about what was in her journal. But that was a lie, it had to be. People always cared. Where she came from, who she came from, what she had done. All those things, people cared about. But it also felt like if he didn't care to know that, he didn't care to know her.

Which she knew was wrong. He wanted to know her. But that's what made it confusing. She didn't like confusing, and new; she liked familiar touches with no meaning and lack of conversation.

Brandon was too deep to understand how shallow Callie was. He thought the reason she stayed away from him was something deep and meaningful, but in reality it was fear. Nothing lasted in Callie's world. And if she got close to Brandon or anyone, it was temporary. And Callie couldn't take anything else being temporary. That's what he would never get, because he eat, breathed and slept stability, temporary wasn't in his vocabulary.

Callie was weak, but he thought she was strong. Callie was the weakest of them all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

A few days passed since the dinner. And Brandon was ever more determined to "get it". Like Callie had said.

Because one thing was becoming undeniable, Brandon liked Callie. It was her protective wall that kept getting rebuilt that he liked.

He thought he had gotten through to her, he really did. But then she ran. And that was the challenge.

It was against every rule in the foster book to even think about Callie like that. But that didn't stop any thought running through his head.

He wanted her. Callie could tell that he did, and she tried to ignore it.

Wyatt liked the drama, he thrived on it. Hard to tell, by his demeanor. He enjoyed watching Brandon give looks to Callie, and glaring at him, because it was drama. But he couldn't help it either, Callie was hard not to like. Yes, they were dating, which should mean he liked her from the start, but people like him and Callie didn't play that way. It was interest, than kiss, than like. And the last part was a rarity.

But for both boys, Callie was different. One just knew how girls like Callie worked, and Callie knew how he worked. It was easy. The other, was different for her. Boys like that had showed interest in her, but not repeatedly. They didn't give her brooding stairs that made her wish to go back in time and not run away.

Callie couldn't help noticing Brandon right back. Though she was more discreet about it.

She knew he always went to bed later than everyone else, whether he was reading or listening to music. Some late nights she heard clicking, only to find Brandon with his Keyboard turned off, but him playing it. He was a night creature. And a day one too. Did he ever sleep, she had started wondering this. It had become her routine; go to sleep, and then wake up a few hours later, to listen through the walls at what Brandon was doing that night.

She hated she did this, but still she did. Every night like clockwork.

But she was delusional like he was. She knew whatever thoughts she had listening to him late at night, had to be gone by morning. Admitting anything she thought at night, would be bad. She had something at stake here, he didn't.

That's another thing, Brandon would never get. Being able to lose something. The threat of losing something hanging on the line. He didn't have that threat.

But here she sat, at one at night. Listening to the clicking from next door.

What did he think about? What was keeping him up? Had he always done this, or was Callie and Jude's presence driving him to late hours for privacy?

Next door to Callie the clicking continued.

There was Brandon. Calmly pressing keys that made no sound. It seemed a little mad to him, to sit in a room and press buttons that did nothing, but somewhere inside him it calmed him.

It calmed him from everything he thought during the day. The way Wyatt was with Callie. The looks Callie had passed at him, that were icier than kind, but he felt the ice melting. Soon they'd talk again. Not just the occasionally getting, the kind of talking where she confessed pieces of her past. He longed for those moments, where he was let inside her brain. He could look past it all, but he also understood that if she wanted to tell she would.

With all these thoughts, he pressed keys, and tried to forget it all.

Somewhere in his mind he knew they both had everything to lose, if anything happened, but he didn't care. He wanted Callie, in any way she would let him.

Like an answered prayer, there was a knock on the door to his room. Tip-tap. A light unsure sound.

Outside the door, Callie was ready to plead insanity. She pushed the door open.

"Hey," Brandon said slightly shocked by his new visitor.

Was that all he ever said to her, she wondered slightly.

She sat down on his bed across from him and his key board.

"Hey," she answered back, folding one leg underneath her.

Was this breaking Foster House rules? That was the thought crossing both their minds as the silence overcame them.

"Couldn't sleep?" he questioned eventually drawing out every syllable.

"Do you ever?" she asks back, he smiles lightly. What was she doing here? That was the question that went unanswered between both of them. Neither knew.

"Not enough hours in the day," he replied, a small smile etched on his the corners of his mouth.

He didn't have anything to smile about. Not yet anyway. He still wondered what Callie was doing here, but he didn't prod.

"So how you've been? I feel like we haven't talked since I came home drunk," Callie questions, a little midnight air affecting her normal state, she was just a bit crazy enough to flirt, but would she with Brandon?

"We haven't really," he admitted, "I've been pretty crappy," he decided on honesty.

"Why's that," she heard herself asking, although it did not go through her brain beforehand.

His look said it all. She should know, and she did. Wyatt.

"What's the big deal about Wyatt?" she questioned wondering if the late night was getting to him as well.

Through the haze of sleepy eyes, she saw Brandon. How cliché was her brain being? But she did. He was tall with brown hair, and caring eyes. He wouldn't do anything to hurt someone, and he held some of her most important secrets. And he knew some explanations, too.

So why didn't she trust him? She had too much to lose, which she had to remind herself. Or his always half-awake eyes, and lazy smile would get to her. And she didn't get got to. She was Callie.

The late night always got to Brandon. He was more open, if that were possible. But this was the rare times he let himself be selfish. Usually no one was awake for him to be selfish to though.

So there eyes met in the silence, and everything was said they couldn't say, for their different reasons. _I'm here. I care. Let me be how I know how. _These words like a song between their eyes, nothing was said. But nothing needed to be. It was his eyes, that made Callie forget. She forgot about her past, she forgot about what she had to lose, and she just was. His eyes were the relief she had needed. It had been so long since she had just been Callie. Not Callie in foster care with all the baggage.

"He's with you," Brandon admitted quietly, looking anywhere by Callie.

She fought back anger, as she stood up, whatever intimate moment they had had was over. Those words shook her back to reality. That's right, Callie. You're Callie with baggage now, and Brandon is feigning like he gives a damn, because you're interesting.

"Yeah. Well that shouldn't bother you," she said, her familiar position coming back, arms crossing over her chest.

"And why not," he questions, knowing he'll hate the answer.

"Because Brandon. You and I, will never happen," she takes another dangerous step closer to where Brandon was sitting.

"And why not," he repeats. The most daring he's ever been. He wanted a reason. He deserved a damn reason on why Callie couldn't be with him. Sure there were a dozen in the back of his head, but he needed to here hers. That was truly the only one that mattered.

"And don't say, I don't get it. I get it. You're scared, Callie. I see that, and I get that," he says quickly, taking away the only reason she truly had had blindsided her.

But that was it. He got the man reason, and she was terrified. Her body shook with terror, and hate, and confusion.

"No. I'm protecting myself. Something you've never had to do. Now if you don't mind I'll go now," she said turning on her heels.

"Why'd you come in here," he asked, hoping for any sort of answer.

Callie decided he deserved one. After all of everything she'd said and done and thought, he deserved a reason to why she had entered his room late at night.

She took a deep breath. All she had to do was leave one piece on the line, and maybe, _maybe,_ he'd be satisfied to leave her alone. She let down her wall for just a second, as the words tumbled from her mouth.

"I was feeling lonely. And I heard you," she nodded towards the key board before leaving the room quickly.

But Callie had gotten it wrong. Letting a piece of her wall down only encouraged Brandon. He know wanted to know even more about her, he had to.

He thought about what she had said you_, I heard you_. Of course she had. Her room, her bed where two feet from her, through a wall of plaster. He knocked lightly on the plaster. And received a light knock back.

Now he was fully encouraged. He would figure out a way to break down her wall, and he would also figure out a way around the walls.

Callie settled under the blankets in the bed she was given. What had she done? She let him know, she cared. She shared a burning look with fire, that fire was also called Brandon. But she would get burned if she got to close.

That was something they both knew. No matter how it happened or how it ended, somebody got hurt. Things couldn't break without a little pain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"What's with that guy always looking at you," Wyatt asked, innocently enough one evening when he was at the Foster's house.

It had been one of the few nights Stef and Lena were both gone from the house, and Wyatt over with Callie. He asked the question from his position on the couch. He sat right next to Callie, with her half perched on his lap, and half leaning on him.

Callie shrugged looking away from Wyatt. Her guitar was laid on the coffee table, where she sat moments before strumming it, and she almost reached for it, now. But Wyatt didn't get that part of her, he didn't get to see it.

Brandon sat brooding on the other side of the room. He read a book. Usually, he would enjoy the solidarity of his room, and the privacy. But not with Wyatt here. No, when Wyatt was here it had to be different. He had to sit right here, and stare at Callie, and make Wyatt feel uncomfortable enough to leave.

But Wyatt knew uncomfortable, so he would not be leaving. In fact he knew uncomfortable well enough, he thought he could get Brandon to leave.

Wyatt kissed the top of Callie's head, which made her turn to look at him. Using his opportunity he kissed her on the lips. Their tongues reaching to mingle, his hands wavering to her back, he pulled her closer to him.

Callie couldn't help it. She liked kissing Wyatt. She'd never admit she liked him, but his lips were nice. One fear dwelled in the back of her mind, did she only like kissing Wyatt because she could feel Brandon's eyes on her the entire time? No that was ridiculous.

Brandon watched them kiss, and tried not to. But he wouldn't give up and leave, he couldn't. He loudly cleared his throat.

Callie pulled back from Wyatt and glanced over at Brandon, an icy glare covering his features.

"Come out with me tonight," Wyatt asked, tracing a hand up and down Callie's arm.

The action itself irritated Callie to no end, not that she would admit that.

"I can't. Stef and Lena could be home any minute," she lied. They weren't coming home tonight, and she knew that, but she didn't want to go out tonight. She wanted to stretch out on the couch and play guitar. She was still struggling a bit.

Wyatt sighed and cast a glance at Brandon, who was looking a little too smug for his tastes.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," he kisses her with is words, as he gets up to show himself out.

"Night Callie," he says from the door of the living room.

Callie and Brandon sat in silence, until they heard the front door close.

Callie reached for her guitar, and silently began strumming some chords. She wasn't worrying about Brandon watching her, maybe she should have been, but he was the one who gifted her the guitar. He deserved this part of her.

Brandon watched silently, before closing his book, and sitting next to Callie on the couch.

"You're a fret and string off on your G," he said, looking at her frozen hands.

Going for broke, he reached around her, and took her left hand in his. Slowly he guided her first finger down one fret and to the second string not first, where she had it. He could ignore the way she felt in his arms, small and fragile, but he couldn't ignore the sharp intake of breath she took, when she was enclosed in his grasp.

This was innocent, Callie thought. And sure anger from last night bubbled under the surface, but she was playing her guitar. Nothing was bad when she held the guitar in her hands. And sure minus the guitar, Brandon's touch would no longer be innocent, but thank god for the guitar, so she could pretend she didn't feel a thing at his touch.

"I think this may cross the foster-sibling line," Callie muttered, strumming lightly on the guitar, not moving out of his grasp though.

It had gone unspoken between them, you didn't talk about the rule that kept them apart, but Callie was tired of the elephant. It was there.

Brandon's forehead landed on C allies shoulder, for a minute. He was thinking, here.

But she wasn't pulling away, he thought. Was she letting him in again? _Be cool, don't mess it up. _So keeping his cool, he moved his chin to her shoulder, and took her right hand, and strummed some chords with her for a minute.

Callie was on fire. His touch, his arms, and a guitar. There was something beautiful about it all. The closest they had gotten, to be with a guitar thrown under their hands.

AS their short song came to a close, Callie looked up at Brandon. With their faces inches apart, she could taste his breath. She wondered how his hands would feel running over her the same way they did the guitar. Or danced over her the same way he caressed a piano.

Get a grip Callie. You have too much to lose here. But what would just once do? She questioned herself. One interaction would be it. That wouldn't get them kicked out of the house would it? No one but her and Brandon would know. The thoughts she was having didn't seem so wrong if she remembered it would only be once.

Brandon on the other hand, was planning how this could work long-term. When would he and Callie get moments like this again? Not often, but if they could sneak away, without anyone knowing. Who would it hurt? Him. He didn't like secrets. But it was either lose Callie or have secrets he would chose secrets in half a heartbeat.

Callie felt herself leaning up towards his lips, towards the heat radiating off his body. Inches turned to centimeters, and she froze. She refused to make the first move here.

Brandon's hand drew light circles on hers. He tasted her breath, some sort of light cherry and peppermint mixture that he didn't want to forget. He could kiss her. He wanted to.

Then he remembered his promise. He couldn't do this. And he couldn't make her a cheater either. Even if she wanted to be, now. Even though he hated Wyatt with every fiber of his being, he couldn't do it.

"Callie," he whispered softly, and she felt the air on her lips. Heat spread through her body, but she stayed frozen.

He wanted that word, to explain everything to her, but it couldn't. One word didn't do anything, if anything she only drifted closer, closer without touching his lips, if that were possible.

He saw it in her eyes. She wanted temporary. So he pulled away from her scent, from her, and sighed. His forehead went back to her shoulder.

He felt her stiffen instantly. She brushed his hands off hers, and stood instantly.

And she left. No progress made, no comment made, nothing. Behind her Brandon sat confused, and heated. Why couldn't he just have kissed her?

Callie retreated to her room. Where she sat up and thought about it.

Now she was thankful he didn't kiss her. Because she knew, if he had she wouldn't stop. He'd eventually ask for more than she could give, _love. _And she was thankful he wouldn't get the chance to ask for it.

Brandon sat in the living room, staring at the ceiling. He was glad he hadn't kissed her, if he had no telling where they would have ended up. And they weren't on the same page. She wanted something entirely different with his kiss, than he did.

So for another night they had been getting dangerously close to crossing the line. But they hadn't yet. And now he knew they would have to talk, before they did. And Callie didn't want to talk.

The one rule would not be in danger of being broken, not tonight anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"You gonna talk about how we almost kissed," Brandon asks sitting himself right next to her on the couch. His voice was low, and deep a whisper, even though no one else was in the house to here.

Jesus had a volleyball game, and everyone else went, but Brandon had to stay afterschool, and missed the car to the game. Callie was once again with her English teacher. So they both missed the car that Stef was driving to the away game.

Brandon knew he was dancing dangerously close to crossing every line, he also knew he was dangerously close to pushing Callie too far. He didn't care. Maybe a little shove is what she needed.

"We didn't almost anything," Callie said scooting a little farther away from in on the couch.

She was tired of pretending not to care, she just simply didn't want to anymore. But it was like a broken pipe, she couldn't turn it off. No matter how hard she wanted to. So here she sat. She could feel the heat radiating off his body, and it sent chills down her spine. She didn't dare move.

"Callie," he said, his voice almost pleading. _Just admit it_, he begged in his brain, like a chorus.

He was tired too. As the days drug on, he was pushed later into the nights sometimes only getting one or two hours of sleep. He was sleep-deprived and going slightly insane. That smell, was it. The cherry and peppermint, that was glued somewhere deep inside his brain. He needed to taste it.

"Brandon, stop," Callie begged right back. She couldn't take his pleading tone a second longer, she would cave.

Her entire life could be on the line, and Brandon Foster would still tempt her to do something. He was poison, but the kind that delivered a slow burn as it took your life, the best kind.

"Callie. You're driving me crazy. Tell me why not. But don't say you have too much to lose. No one would know, I wouldn't let you get kicked out of this house. So what would you lose?" he questions reaching out for her. His hand dragging up and down her arm. His hand saying the same things his eyes had said nights before, _I'm here, I care._

_My sanity_, Callie thought to herself. She would lose her sanity, if she let him in. But in the end, would he stand up for her, and save her if they got caught. She couldn't go back to another, a different Foster Home, not with Jude in tow. But this was the Brandon that chased her across town to save Jude. She knew he would save Jude at least. But what if she hurt him?

She knew she would hurt him. If she shattered her heart how did she know he wouldn't turn his back and tell on her. Why couldn't she be born into a different life? She wanted easy. For one time in her life, why couldn't something be easy?

"Brandon. I can't. You don't understand," she was begging now. Begging for him to stop, because she was breaking in two over this. Or into seven pieces. Brandon, Wyatt, Callie, Jude, Stef, Lena, and Liam, all parts of her shattered apart, because there was no way they all fit. Some she would hurt, some she would break, and some she stole a part of her, that she hadn't gotten back.

"What don't I understand? Help me understand?" he begged right back. His eyes were pleading and he was confused, on what it could possibly be. His hand reached out to cup her cheek, lightly. She leaned into his hand.

Brandon wanted to get it. If she would just tell him, he would help. But Callie, wouldn't couldn't do it.

Every interaction between them wasn't like this. Passing in the hallways he'd make a comment and she'd crack up laughing. And at lunch on some days they would laugh their way through music in the secluded little room. Her fingers strumming is playing the piano. Together, their anything was possible. It was this house that held the rule that kept them apart. That's why everything here had to be so deep.

Callie shook her head and pulled back a little more.

"No matter what way we put this, we don't work in the end," Callie finally admitted. And Brandon got it.

He got exactly what she was saying. They would hurt everyone. So instead, their own hearts should be bleeding than slightly harm someone else. And if they hurt anyone else, the would hurt even more. But something still sang in the back of his mind, _Nobody has to know._

"But you want it to?" he asks, reaching out again to cup her cheek, this time she didn't pull away, but fall closer towards him.

He had to know. If she wanted it, he could stop thinking he was crazy. Sure, they still had a lot to figure out, but if she wanted them together, than everything else could come together.

Callie looked down at her hands. And how they toyed with the fabric of her shirt. She wanted him. She also wanted to tell him everything, and here anything he wanted to say.

So she didn't say anything. She just nodded slowly, but she reached for anything so whatever just happened didn't go further. She picked up her guitar from the table, strummed a few chords. The bad sound of a string breaking, filled the room.

It was a symbol, they didn't know it then, but the string that snapped, resembled a rule that had just been broken. But opposite of the guitar, now that the rule was broken, it would be beautiful, unlike the guitar.

* * *

"All your life, You were only waiting for this moment to arise," Brandon finished the song, a little off key has Callie strummed away, she was laughing more than practicing, but she was smiling.

They were still sitting in the living room, but the others were still gone. Blackbird was a Beetles song, that Callie's mom had taught her when she was just learning to play.

For a moment she thought about telling Brandon this, but thought against it, he would ask another question. So she settled for something different.

"When I turn eighteen, I'm going to get a black bird tattoo, I think," she said looking down at her guitar.

He had kept an innocent distant, and they hadn't kissed. Now that something, whatever it had been, was settled, they could relax again. The urgency to kiss her, to show her he cared, was gone. Don't get him wrong he still wanted to, he still wanted to do a lot of things. But he loved this time with Callie, this time felt like something only he could give her.

"Why a black bird? I mean it's a great song, but what's the real reason?" he questions slipping the guitar from her hands, and playing the song black bird again. It was simple, but beautiful.

"Uh, my mom. She taught me to play it first. So, for her. I guess he kind of flew away to, in a weird way," Callie took a breath with her words where had that come from?

Brandon just smiled, no words were needed, his smile said it all. _I'm here, I care_. But now, _Thanks for letting me in._

"You play so much better," Callie smiles leaning back to the couch, her head fell onto the back of the couch and she closes her eyes. The music drifts into her head like a memory, of her mom playing and she begins to smile.

"You're so beautiful, Callie," Brandon mutters, but he doesn't stop playing. He just sits playing, and watches her smiling. Something so peaceful, and so rare. He feels like a millionaire just staring at her, while she smiled.

"You're beautiful, too, Brandon," Callie says jokingly, before laughing. She opens her eyes, and looks at a grinning Brandon.

"Let's write a song," Brandon suggests strumming some chords, different than the Black bird.

"Mmm. How about no?" Callie suggests back, still jokingly. She was happy, and care free again.

Brandon loved this side of her, and it was as rare or rarer than her smile.

"How about yes?" he asks with a slow grin, getting closer to her.

Like nights before their breaths and eyes mingled, but they wouldn't touch. Not tonight. Even though heat flooded Callie's body, and tingles went up her spine, and back down to her toes. Even though Brandon could almost but not quite taste cherry peppermint, a scent he had decided to label Callie.

There closeness broken, by a door opening, and voices filling the house.

Callie's face turned into a cold wall again. No one could know anything. She almost brought herself to regret the past few hours with Brandon. Nothing had happened, but it suddenly felt wrong, to get close to someone again. She saw Jude with a smile on his face. And thought about how all her thoughts could hurt him in the end.

Brandon saw it though. Callie's change in demeanor. So when she excused herself for the night, he caught her eyes. He sent one clear signal. _Don't let me lose you again. _He knew it though, as there private world was taken away, Callie would change. And then he'd have to crash through her barriers again.

After so much progress. So much. Brandon felt like he was back at step one with Callie again. And Callie felt guilty. Nothing had happened, and Callie and Brandon were both already regretting something.

Callie regretted letting him in. Brandon regretted not getting into her mind further. But if nothing could cause regret between them, what would treachery cause?

It would cause there entire worlds to be upset, and shaken up. But only one in the pair was ready for that.

* * *

**Authors Note: I am determined not to let them kiss until after Mondays new episode next week, but I'm coming so close to breaking. But what about Wyatt? Love hearing from you guys! Thanks so much!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Something in Brandon had broken last night, when he had to pick up Callie and Wyatt. And he snapped. He laid himself on the line, and Callie, she had opened up. But it was only seconds before she was closed off again.

But it mattered now, he knew what was behind everything. He "understood" a piece of her now. She was scared of hurting Jude by getting kicked out, and she was also afraid of how it ended. Because in her world, everything had always ended.

In a different way, it broke him to watch Callie kiss Wyatt. After last night he thought maybe, she'd get it, and it nearly killed him that he couldn't get through to her.

And now all the remained between them was Callie's stony mask of indifference. But that sounded too dramatic. She wasn't indifferent. Indifferent meant she didn't care, and something inside her eyes told him she did care.

Callie was terrified. In an escape act, she had let Brandon in more than she had wanted. And he knew something now.

The house echoed with emptiness, something that never turned out well for them. Or extremely well, if you could ignore how it always ended.

"What are your plans for the day, Callie?" Brandon questions glancing up at her. He knew her answer would include Wyatt, but he wanted to pretend for one moment that he didn't care.

The truth was Brandon took everything to hard. Everything. He had to have a feeling about everything, but he kept them to himself, he couldn't let people see that. If he was hurt, if he was tormented, he hid all of it. In the hopes his world would still spin the way it had the day before. Brandon knew what it was like to lose everything, when his dad and mom divorced, he knew what it was like for your world to fall apart, so now he did everything in his power to keep it from happening again.

Callie was the opposite. She fought for what she wanted, she kept to herself so she could act how she wanted without hurting anyone. She was lonely, and miserable. But somewhere inside she knew she could be okay again. She was already becoming more comfortable here, which only struck her with more fear than she started with.

Callie shrugged at Brandon's question. The truth was, she didn't have plans, but so hoped Brandon would. She couldn't take his honest and searching eyes she would crack again, and that's something that after several times could not happen again.

Brandon was tired of non-committal shrugs, and never making eye contact. He was tired and frustrated. He had been so close to getting in, and then he just didn't. She was closed off and gone again. He had a feeling she would never want to open up like that again.

"Can we stop this?" he asks anger creeping into his voice. He was letting his own emotion show now, and he felt he could do it openly now. Maybe emotion is what she needed.

"Stop what?" Callie asks, looking up from her book, she was trying so hard to be calm, and look non-caring. But she did. She finally could admit to herself that she cared.

"This awkward no-talking thing. I'm not going to ask any questions. I just want to be your friend, and talk to you," Brandon admitted., although he could taste the lie on his tongue. He wanted a lot more.

Callie saw through his facade. He wanted more than she could give, already. She looked up at him, setting him with a dis-believing glare.

"Okay, so I want you. And I want you to be mine, but I can look past that, I just can't take the silence," he was pleading with her. A bargain.

"Brandon. I can't. I can't be around you and pretend that you don't have some sort of feelings about me, not after what you said. And I can't pretend that I don't," Callie stopped herself and stood to wash her dish eager to run.

She was becoming skilled at running away. She felt like a coward, but a part of her knew this is what had to be done.

"Please finish that sentence," Brandon said coming up behind her. The heat radiating of both of them and mingling, the "Callie" scent hit is senses and his was gone.

One time thing. That idea was a thing of the past. Callie thought it would have worked, but now she knew, her feelings for Brandon, whatever they were, ran deep. They ran deeper than a one-time fling and physical attraction. _So much deeper._

"I can't pretend, I don't feel this," she waved a hand between them as she turned around.

Brandon took a step back, a frustrated sigh escaped him. That was enough. Like nights before her admitting it all was enough. That's all he could get now, and he knew it.

"Let me take you somewhere," Brandon says, and with every ounce of hope being used, Callie agrees.

He had a plan in mind, words to tell her, and rules to break.

* * *

They were staring at a park. A playground stretched before them, it met trees and branched into a forest on their left, but to their right were benches, and a little ice-cream stand.

Callie wondered why here. Why he had pulled her into a concrete tube, something old from that would have been used in a sewage system, but here it was, being used for playground equipment. Why were they here?

Brandon had a past here, she could tell by the way his hand rested on the concrete, and he stared at it. The pain on his face clear. He was burning with grief, and her hand burned to reach out to comfort him. She resisted for a moment. Then gave in, sliding her hand over his, where it rested on the concrete.

"You've let me in, a little, but you have," Brandon finally began, "But this is a part of me. See that bench right there" he asks pointing to the one directly under the trees, he didn't wait for an answer.

"That's were my mom and dad told me they would be getting a divorce. I remember it had been a great day. We had gone to the zoo, and miniature golfing, then we had gotten ice-cream and they sprung the news on me. I ran from them. I was confused and hurt. I was young, and so I came right here," her gestured down to the concrete tube.

"I remember wondering what I had done. Had I not been good enough? Was I not right? Was I too much trouble? What had I done to deserve this? I stayed here for hours. And they didn't look for me. They knew I would come back, and I did eventually right back to that bench. But they didn't chase after me, when I ran away," his words hung in the air like smoke. They knocked the breath out of Callie.

"Callie, I have never ran away since then. Because I never thought anyone would chase after me. And I think that's why you run now. You're scared of who will follow you. Who will chase after you. But get this right now. You can run a thousand times, and I plan to be right behind you," Brandon was close to tears but he didn't let them out.

He looked at Callie, whose eyes burned back to him.

Callie was lost to her own mind. Part of her begged to let him in. The other knew he was only temporary. But his words dug so deep. She couldn't tell him he was lying, somehow she knew he wasn't. He had proved since day one he would chase after her.

She wanted to let him in, now. She felt his pain. He knew what it was like for something to be temporary. His words were a promise. But promises got broken. She trusted Brandon. She trusted someone for the first time in years, and this time she wasn't going to keep him out.

_Say something, Callie. Admit how you feel. Say something anything. _Her brain screamed at her. But no words came.

They're eyes burned into one another. Souls being layed on the line for each other. Heat and passion bubbling between the hair between them.

Callie knew how little words meant. The only way to really prove something was actions. So she made an all changing action. She took a leap of faith. She moved closer. She crossed the imaginary line. She shut her eyes. She broke the rules.

* * *

**Authors note: I feel like this chapter is positively awful. I don't think it makes since. But I feel pressured to upload, so here you go. And scroll for a Spoiler Alert for the next chapter!**

**SPOILER ALERT! they don't kiss!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The rule she broke was one of her own. She let someone in. She wrapped her arms around Brandon and hugged him. Her eyes shut tight, wanting to feel his touch, feel his comfort. Her face buries into his neck.

It was the first hug she had given to someone other than Jude, and as his arms wrapped around her she felt her world crumble to bits. It was too much for her. His arms surrounding her, his promise ringing in her head. Echoing. He would chase after her. The way she suddenly felt in his arms as his hand traced slow circles on her back. All of it was too much.

Brandon was blank. When he planned to come here he hadn't planned those words. But when he said them, he knew, it was exactly what she needed. And it was exactly what he meant. Every word he said was the truth, and now he felt whole. In a strange way. Like a cliché, Callie in his arms made him feel whole.

"Callie, I don't care anymore. You can date Wyatt. You can be with him, but please, stop running from me. I can be whatever you want. Or nothing. Just stay," he whispered into her ear. Her arms tightened around him, as tears threatened to spill over.

She couldn't stay. She wouldn't be allowed to stay. Soon enough they'd find a home for her and Jude, and she would be shipped off again. Like always. So, no. She couldn't promise to stay. No matter what he said, she couldn't lie and tell him she would.

"I can't promise anything more than the moment I'm in," she whispered even quieter pulling back from their hug.

"I could be across the country tomorrow," she continued, "I can't tell you I'm going to stay, when most likely, I'm just not going to," she finished staring out to the forest area.

"If you got to choose, would you choose to stay?" he questioned reaching out a hand to hold. Their hands connected tightly.

"Does it matter? I never get to choose," she admitted quietly.

"But what would you choose?" he asks again, unsure of the area he was getting into. Was he crossing another line? A part of him hoped so.

She shook her head.

"I haven't ever thought about it. You know? I've never felt safe enough to sit around and think about what I wanted. It's always been survive today, survive this month, survive another year. Protect Jude, and don't lose yourself," Callie admits finally after a long moment.

"Think about it now," he whispered. His eyes meeting hers in an attempt to say, _you're finally safe._

"I want to leave California. This state reeks of my past. College?" she scrunched her face in thought before shaking her head, "That's not for me. Couldn't afford it anyway. Uh, photography is cool, it's fun. But I don't know. Does any of this really matter? I'll end up working at a gas station somewhere anyway. Probably with a boyfriend who is an alcoholic, or somewhere who has no since of care like Wyatt. My dreams, My thoughts, My desires, they

don't matter. Not to anyone," Callie spoke each word with thought.

She knew where she would end up. It had been the same truth most foster parents had told her. She was trash, she would amount to nothing. And somewhere along the many homes, she started to believe what they were saying. A part of her stayed strong, and held onto the hope of something better. That maybe had finally come.

"I care. About your dreams, your thoughts," Brandon paused to make eye contact, and delivered every ounce of want and lust he had for her into his next two words, "Your desires," he finished.

Callie was on fire. Every part of her was suddenly aware of his touch, his eyes, his breath. And his words. She could tell he meant it.

"I want you," she whispered so slow she wasn't even sure she said it, but she did. Without breaking eye contact she admitted the one truth she knew right then. Callie wanted Brandon. Every inch of her skin yearned for his touch, and every inch of her mind yearned to be opened and examined.

With her words, Brandon's eyes lit intensely. He had never known such attraction that with three simple words his pants could tighten. But at the same time as fantasies played, he wanted to keep talking. Keep listening to every word she had to say. It was a powerful and strange feeling.

Callie went still, as the groan escaped his lips. She couldn't think, but at the same time she knew she needed words from him now. Actions would only mean chaos.

"Say something Brandon," she demanded, and pleaded. Another minute of his heated gaze and she would be a goner.

He didn't speak, he lifted her hand to his lips, and kissed the back of her hand. Before pulling her hand to the side of his face.

If she thought she burned before she was an inferno now. A hot inferno of confusion and lust. His lips felt like heaven against her hand, what would they feel like against hers, she wondered, but didn't think any further she was still waiting on words.

"Callie, you kill me. You know that?" he whispered obvious strain on his voice, "I can't kiss you not when you're with someone else. I can't do that. You have to be mine for me to kiss you. God, I want you. But until you can be mine. Your mind is all I can explore," it took every fiber of his being to say this, to explain why he wouldn't kiss her.

He expected her to retract her hand, and go. He knew he was asking a lot from her, but he didn't care, she had to know this.

Callie went from being on fire to warm in a different way. Like a glow from a fire after a long winter walk, or drinking hot chocolate after playing in the snow, a warm fuzzy feeling that felt a lot like affection. Her smile was genuine when it appeared.

"Okay. That's fair," she said, a part of her trying to find a time to break up with Wyatt. The other part wondering if she should risk it with Brandon. She wanted to. But there was so much more on the line than what she wanted. As always.

"Okay. Alright, so we should get out of this tunnel before I go back on what I just said," Brandon said nodding towards anywhere outside this confined space. Callie grinned, and followed him out.

Brandon took her hand when they stood, and they went for ice cream at the little stand, where they sat for a few hours. They laughed and joked, and told secrets, all pointless words that meant the world to both of them. But here it was.

On the same bench, where Brandon's world fell apart, Callie's world finally felt like it was coming together.

Brandon didn't know if she would still be this open when they got home, and Callie didn't know herself. But in this moment, none of that mattered. Her past, his past, their unknown futures all pushed aside, to have one day, just a few hours to be Callie and Brandon. Two people getting to know each other, two people laughing, two people dancing on a line they wouldn't cross, not today, anyway.

Here they were, living, breathing, with hearts beating, as they let the world go on around them, cocooned in a hope that tomorrow, nothing would change from today. But they both knew, the world always changed.

* * *

**Authors Note: Another one, here you go! I actually really love this chapter. I think it was needed. So Wyatt appears in the next chapter, and happy reading all. Thanks so much for the reviews.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Wyatt wasn't so easy. He was angry and begging for help. He was begging for someone to save him. He needed someone to help him. Something about him made Callie rethink her decision.

She had met up with him to end it, but now, she couldn't. Her mind flashed back to how close her and Brandon had been yesterday. And he said she had to be single for them to kiss. And she wanted to kiss Brandon, but she couldn't hurt Wyatt. He needed her.

What she had thought was easy, turned into something so much more. She realized she knew guys like Wyatt but she didn't know him. How he hurt from losing his home, how he was confused by life in general.

And she was beginning to like the way he felt. Her feelings for him didn't go any deeper than a mutual need to want to feel better, but it didn't matter. Once again she was sucked into a world where she wanted and had to help someone pushing what she wanted behind her.

And there was the small matter of Liam to worry about. Last night she couldn't sleep. She stayed up late waiting for the clicking of the piano to begin, for a sign of comfort to come, but it never did. Liam knew where she lived, and he wasn't set on letting her go. He had to hurt her.

So Callie again was torn. She wouldn't be able to block out Brandon again, and she didn't want to, but she didn't know if she could be with him without actually being with him. It was confusing.

And she didn't know how to act Monday. At school, as she kissed Wyatt in greeting., she felt something. She didn't want to, but she did. He smiled, is usual cool smile, and she felt comfort. He was still waiting on an answer to his ever burning question, _what were they?_

Wyatt had never been whipped, never even close to it. But Callie drove him to the edge of coherent thought. He had to know if they were anything. Which was a first, a scary first. He cared about Callie. He needed a name for what they were, that wasn't him.

So here they were holding hands, walking down the hallway, an array of unspoken words dancing between them. He let Callie in. And she had yet to do the same. That put both of them on edge.

But Callie was welcomed back to easy ebb and flow she felt with Wyatt. It was so simple to hold is hand, to comfort him, to kiss him. Nothing was on the line. She couldn't be hurt by Wyatt. Not lie Brandon had the ability to hurt her.

"Come hang out with me after school?" Wyatt questions, kissing her again, as they walk out of the school building.

"mmm, why?" Callie asks back her lips brushing against his with her words.

She didn't feel an inferno whenever he was near, the desire to kiss him and touch him didn't overpower normal thought. But when they kissed Callie felt a slow burn. A slow burn was it, but the ease and comfort along with it, kept Brandon pushed to the back of her mind.

"So I can do this," he mumbled kissing her softly, "Several times over and over again, including different positions of our lips, and tongues on skin?" he said moving to kiss her neck.

She tilted her head to give him better access.

But then she remembered the house would be empty tonight. Jesus had a Volleyball Game, Marianna was going to a poetry slam or something else similar, it was Brandon's dad's night, Jude was going to his tutor, and Lena and Stef wanted date night. All of which the house would be empty from five to at least seven or later.

Callie laughed. What would she gain from inviting him over? Confusion. But relaxation as well.

"Just come over to my empty house tonight at five thirty, then we can do all of what you just mentioned," Callie murmured leaving a kiss on his lips.

He smirked with a nod, and kissed Callie's cheek, as Jude approached.

"Hey Wyatt," Jude said smiling.

Wyatt delivered a fond smile for the kid. He was an only child, and Jude was a good kid, it was a simple thing for him to take to Jude.

"Hey kiddo. Alright, I'm off. Callie see you around?" Wyatt asks with a simple smirk.

Wyatt walked away right as Brandon joined the group a sad and frustrated look on his face.

After a few simple greetings, and a brief conversation Jude walked ahead on their way home. Brandon was frustrated, in more than one way, when he saw Wyatt with Callie all day today. Did she forget the park? Or did she just go back to not caring.

They dropped Jude off at his tutor, and continued their walk home a thousand unanswered questions on their mind.

"How's our pal Wyatt?" Brandon questioned, and he hated himself for sounding bitter, but didn't her deserve to be bitter?

"Brandon," Callie warned, her voice said it all. He rolled his eyes and stormed past her into the house.

Callie knew what she had done, but a part of her didn't understand his frustration and anger. She couldn't end it with Wyatt, because then life would be complicated. And she just wanted simple for a little while, while it could last. One day, her and Brandon could be together, and they would be perfect and beautiful, but today they couldn't.

She needed him to understand that. But she knew he never would. She had hoped after they had gotten so close, that maybe just maybe, he would get it. But that was it. Nobody ever understood. No matter what she thought, nobody would ever get it.

* * *

"Well hello there," Wyatt says as the door opens. He was slightly surprised at what he saw.

Callie was beautiful as usual but looked distressed. Her hair was slightly messed up, and by the way she ran her fingers through it as she opened the door, he could tell that was the reason.

Callie had been a wreck, or slightly one since her small fight with Brandon. She paced, and sat still, then paced, then messed with her hair. The quiet house was not helping her any. She had tried playing her guitar but it came out off tune and forced. She needed a distraction from her confused mind.

Her hands reached out for Wyatt, and pulled him by his shirt collar closer to her, shutting the door behind them.

Wyatt couldn't tell if he liked her change in demeanor. For the first time, Callie looked needy, and he was pretty sure he would give into any of her needs.

"Everything all right?" he asked as he followed her to the couch in the living room.

They sat down, and Callie stared at the guitar she had left out on the table, before looking back at Wyatt. He looked like he cared, and she didn't know if he should. He probably shouldn't not when the reason for her stress was another guy who made her feel so different, and perfect. Something Wyatt did, but not anywhere near as well.

She had to forget the way Brandon's hands felt on her. They hadn't even kissed, and her mind had fueled fantasy after fantasy were they did a lot more. He had kissed her hand, and that feeling was killing her.

She was so confused and tormented because she knew she was a few words from getting to feel that with Brandon, more of it. But she also knew that that would be bad, awful. And only end badly. So she had to stay with Wyatt, because he almost made her forget. Maybe that's what she needed.

"I don't want to talk about it," she mumbled, her hands forming her plan before her brain. They started to dance across Wyatt's chest, as she got up onto her knees.

"Just…just..make me forget it, okay? Please?" she said bending down to kiss him.

Wyatt didn't know if he should help her run away from her problems. But he kissed her back. If all he was ever good for was erasing problems, he could do that. It was better than being the cause of the problem.

So they kissed. Their tongues mingling in a simple dance of discovery. It was so basic, Callie thought. Lips to lips, tongue to tongue, no spark, no fire, just a slow burn. Maybe the slow burn could provide comfort though.

Wyatt's hands tangled into Callie's hair as he pulled her closer. Her body moved to straddle his lap, and he was almost embarrassed at how he had gotten hard with simple kisses. So he took charge. He brushed his lips against her throat, and scratched his teeth against her skin. Her head tilt back and she moaned softly.

Her hands moved to the bottom of his shirt, where she moved to slide it up. A second of parted lips from skin, and Wyatt was shirtless. Her hands roamed his chest on their own. Wyatt still played with her neck. She almost froze when he kissed directly on the pulse point of her neck. That was too intiment. Too much.

She pulled back from him, only to reconnect their lips. Callie thought this would be okay. She felt herself fall into their kiss. Fall into his hands as they moved to her back, and roamed over her until they reached her shirt buttons.

With a swift movement Wyatt had her on her back, with him on top of her. Callie didn't like forgoing control, but she needed to get someone else touches out of her mind. She shut her eyes tight, and let her hands roam up and down Wyatt's arms.

He began to unbutton her shirt, unsure of how far Callie wanted to take this to forget, but the buttons were down without a word from Callie. The only sound was a few murmmurings escaping from her lips, and the back of her throat.

"You're beautiful Callie," he said into her skin, as his lips trailed over her neck, to her collar bone.

They didn't send a trail of fire in their wake, or send tingles to her, but she couldn't deny it didn't feel bad. It boarded on good. So good that with shut eyes, she reached for the button on his jeans.

Undoing that their lips reconnected, and their bodies collided. It was a slow grind, that caused Wyatt to moan in Callie's ear, and Callie to bite back her own moan. Her hands danced between them to undo the zipper, and slightly slide down his jeans.

Wyatt couldn't take it, he pinned her hands above her head, and kissed her again. A loud moan escaped Callie's lips as the front door slammed.

They jumped apart instantly. Wyatt stood unsure of what to do. Callie reached for her shirt, not putting it on as she looked up to meet angry eyes. Angry eyes that sent chills down her spine.

"Moms would kill you if they knew he was here with no one home," Brandon said, venom spitting out from his voice.

He took in the scene, Callie without a shirt. Wyatt shirtless, and his pants undone. He cringed at the thought of what he had just walked into. And how could Callie do that? How? She was supposed to be breaking up with the guy, not having sex with him on his couch!

"You're not going to tell them!" Callie demanded from Brandon, which only caused more anger in Brandon.

"I might" he lied. He wouldn't. He knew he wouldn't, but he was too angry not to bluff.

"Wyatt you should go, I'll see you tomorrow," Callie said, kissing his cheek. Bad move. Brandon was already angry that simple thing might drive him over the edge.

"You going to be okay?" Wyatt asked, taking a look at Brandon, as he righted his shirt. Callie nodded briefly, and watched Wyatt leave.

Not before glaring at Brandon on his way out. Now this was going to get bad. Brandon and Callie both knew it. They were both angry, annoyed, frustrated, and hurt. It wasn't a good combination.

Wyatt walked away with a little understanding of the situation. He was angry, but he got something now. Outside he kicked a tree in ager, he liked Callie and cared about her. But girls didn't close their eyes while they got intense unless they were wishing it was someone else. And the way he saw the fire in Callie's eyes change to passion when Brandon entered the room, he knew who the other guy was. Anger bubbled in him, and he kicked the tree harder, before walking into the darkness.

Back in the house, tension was surrounding Callie and Brandon. Neither wanted to talk first. But soon enough hurt pushed words out of Brandon's mouth.

"So what you just handing it out free now? I wouldn't kiss you and now you have to have sex with Wyatt to prove something," Brandon spat out. The way he looked at Callie was everything evil on earth. It stung her worse than everything.

"Real nice Brandon. Maybe this had nothing to do with you," Callie said equal venom, equal hurt. Although her anger wasn't fair. Hers came from frustration. Frustration towards Brandon, at making her feel so torn. And so good, but not being able to be with him.

"So what? What you said at the park meant nothing?" Brandon said, his anger was cooling, and the hurt was shining through, he approached Callie slowly.

Two steps away he stopped. This was too much. He cared too much. But he had seriously thought Callie wanted him. She had said she did, now he wasn't so sure. He watched her take a deep breath before speaking.

"It meant everything. I meant it. But we can't be together, you know that! And somewhere along the day I realized how that bothered me. How I was going to have to forget the way you made me feel, or give in and get kicked out. I couldn't do either. Wyatt, helps me forget the way your hands feel. For a minute," Callie admitted all in one breath, looking up at Brandon who was softening.

"Why is it so easy with Wyatt, and not with me?" Brandon asks frustration creeping into his tone, but he was calmer.

"He can't hurt me. You can," her words were like a knife, and glue at the same time. The knife was that she thought he would hurt her. The tape was that she cared enough that he could hurt her.

"I would never hurt you," it was a promise that with every fiber of his being he meant.

Callie was taken back. How did she explain how it was. She knew he would never hurt her, not intentionally. But then why had she pushed so far from him in her mind today.

"Callie. I can't do this. You want me, than you go hot and heavy with Wyatt. Now what ? We either do this, you and me, or we both walk away. But I can't see you with him, when you say you want me," Brandon poured his heart into these words. The whole honest truth.

Callie nodded at his words. They both calmed then. It was all out there.

"I don't even want Wyatt," she whispered shaking her head. That was a lie, too. She wanted him as a friend, but she wanted Brandon as everything.

"Then why?" he asked making a gesture to the couch, where he had found them. Callie's eyes shut tight, and stayed closed, before she spoke.

"I wanted to erase the way your hands felt, even just holding mine. I had to make it disappear, because I can't have that. And I don't want to fantasize about something I can't have." Callie admitted, her eyes shut tight.

She couldn't see Brandon close the distance, but she could feel him growing nearer. He was tense, on edge. And he could smell her cherry peppermint scent. He wanted to forget what he had just seen, and remind her of how his touch felt. So pushing any ounce of will power he had left away he spoke.

"Don't forget. Callie. Don't even try," he whispered inches from her face.

He was forgetting his one rule, she had to be his. And she wasn't. Not technically. But he oh so wanted to forget a few measly words, and kiss her. Could he do it?

Two promises flashed into his mind_. __"There's nothing going on with Callie and me" and "_You have to be mine for me to kiss you." So he pushed them to the back of his mind, and for the first time he broke a few rules.

* * *

**Authors Note: Don't hate me. I have been broken. They will be exploring another side of their relationship in the next chapter, don't hate me I couldn't not and its going to happen. Alright well happy reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Brandon's hand cupped Callie's cheek lightly, and his fingers moved to the back of her neck. He was so close to her, so close. But he didn't move any closer. He studied her. Her shut eyes, and blank face. Her silky hair between his fingers. He hadn't kissed her yet, but by the way Callie's lips were parted slightly he knew she wanted to.

Callie was an inferno, she was burning. Her eyes stayed shut, but that didn't stop her from feeling. She could feel his hand like a hot coal on the back of her neck, and she could feel his other hand holding hers, as it lay limp beside them. And most of all she could feel his breath. Hot and heavy against her lips but he wouldn't kiss her. She wanted to press her lips up to his, but she couldn't break his rule for them.

"Callie open your eyes," Brandon whispered a hoarse sound creeping into his voice that sent sparks down her spine.

Why? She wondered. She would just have to close them again. She did as asked, and meant Brandon's eyes. They were lustful and longing, he wanted to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. His eyes on her made her realize she had forgotten her shirt. It was sittingon the floor somewhere and she was shirtless. But Brandon's eyes stayed on hers.

His hand moved to her bare waist, one remaining in her hair, but the one on the waist caused Callie to take a sharp intake of breath. She bit down on her bottom lip. Brandon caught that movement, and the way her teeth sunk into her lip, and he moved his hand upwards and downwards on her waist.

Brandon had never been inspired to touch someone differently. But Callie inspired so much for him. He continued the path with his hand, and watched Callie sink her teeth in deeper.

"You're so beautiful," he said in one breath growing closer to her.

Callie was taken aback, and almost pulled away. But she stayed exactly where she was. He didn't know the way that word made her feel, cheap. Wyatt had called her beautiful; Liam had called her beautiful, even Brandon had done it before. But now here in such a position, he'd made her stomach sink. What did that even mean?

"Please, don't call me that," she asked softly, Brandon deserved to know that bothered her.

She could see the confusion in his eyes, so she went on, eager to move past this.

"That word means absolutely nothing to me, but cheap, and worthless," Callie admitted, wanting to close her eyes, runaway anything to get away from his eyes, but the way Brandon's hand rested on her waist, she didn't want to move.

But then she saw it, pieces in his eyes coming together. He understood. That's what was endearing about Brandon, he got things she didn't want to explain.

"I won't call you that then," his voice was only growing deeper with desire. Their proximity was becoming too much way too much.

"Brandon your killing me. Like seriously I'm about to go up in flames here, with your touch and your eyes, and everything," Callie's words were rushed and pleading she was so far gone.

Brandon studied her for a bit longer. Taking in the way her skin felt under his hand, how her hair felt in between his fingers, how her eyes felt pleading to be touched, and filled with passion. He was so lost in her.

He didn't think five steps ahead like he normally did, he just watched Callie's eyes grow closer, and he tasted the cherry and peppermint come closer, and he was just as dead as she was.

When their lips connected, he was confused at the feeling. With other girls, their lips felt like lips. With Callie, it felt like a connection. Her lips felt so good on his, but he didn't go further not yet. He let their lips move against each other.

Callie was a goner. If she thought his lips felt good on her hand, she was so wrong about what good was. His lips moved with hers with a purpose. His hand gripped tightly to her bare skin, the other was gliding down her body slowly. Agonizingly. He wrapped her hands around his neck, and kissed him harder.

The way she felt under his hands, with their lips connected was unreal. When his hand brushed over the skin beside her breast she moaned into their kiss, and Brandon wanted to hear that sound again. He was on a rush to hear that sound again.

With her moan, he let his tongue connect with hers, and the fire he was feeling only increased. Brandon began backing Callie up, leading her up the stairs. His mouth unwantingly pulled away from hers and landed on her neck, as they made their sloppy way up the stairs.

Brandon wasn't presumptuous. He didn't think he would get to go any further than kissing Callie, but he wanted to do it in his room. Because that meant privacy. So he backed her into his room, and shut the door behind them. Then he turned and pushed Callie against the wall.

He kissed her neck slowly and teasingly trailed a path back and forth from her neck to her collar bone. All the while is hands traced every inch of her skin.

Callie was burning. He didn't ask first, not before he slowly began sucking on her neck. She could feel his purpose in mind, he wanted to leave a mark. Her neck tilted to leave better access for him to do so, her hands tangled into his hair, and she pulled him closer.

"Brandon," she said although it came out as more of a moan, she felt heat gather between her thighs, and she wanted this to slow down. But she also wanted it to speed up, and go much further.

She didn't say a word, as his lips reconnected with hers. She then realized he had been giving all the power, he was building her up to an inferno, and she had barely touched him. She was without a shirt, and he was fully clothed.

Her hands slid his shirt over his head, and then reached back to them to regain connection.

If Brandon thought Callie's lips felt good, or that her skin felt good under his hands, he was amazed at how their skin felt, only separated by Callie's bra he could feel the hear emanating from her chest.

This was going to go way too far, way too fast. He pulled back entirely from her and tried to regain his breath, she took shallow breaths in response.

"God, we have to slow down, Cal," he murmured looking at her red face and panting chest. She didn't want to.

She nodded in agreement. One way to make someone feel cheap was sex right after the first kiss. Brandon backed up a few spaces and landed on his bed. Callie followed sitting down a foot from him.

"Don't do that," he whispered. He leaned against the wall behind his bed, and pulled Callie to sit next to him. He didn't want to space. She fell into the croock of his arm as her breathing returned to normal. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he rested his chin on the top of his head.

"Tell me about your first kiss," Callie said, a small smile moving to his lips, and hers. The heat of the situation was dulling, and turning to a warm glow that consumed both of them.

Brandon laughed, and placed a kiss on the top of Callie's head before talking.

"15. It was a girl right before Tayla. I was so nervous, and my hands were all sweaty, so during the kiss I wiped my sweat on the back of her shirt," he laughed at the story and then laughed even harder as Callie's laugh joined them.

"And what about you Callie? You weren't nervous for your first kiss?" Brandon teased kissing the side of her neck.

"I was 12," Callie admitted still smiling, this story had no past, "He kissed me on the back of the bus, he kissed me on the last day of seventh grade, never saw him again," Callie shook off the memory. She knew soon enough the worst thing would come. Brandon would get to take out the anger he deserved.

In the heat of the moment they had both forgotten what had brought them here. Weakness, and selfishness. And now cooling down, things had to be discussed.

"Callie. I need you to tell me everything. Absolutely everything. From what ran through your head today, and what happened with Liam. Tell me everything," Brandon said, force. He wanted to know, he had to know.

He deserved to know, Callie knew that. She took a breath, and set up. She separated herself from him, and put space between them. She looked for her shirt around his room. This story was long.

"I threw your shirt in your room," Brandon said raising his eyebrows, Callie looked questioningly.

"And Marianna just came home, so what do you suppose I do?" Callie asks, looking around the room, she was prolonging telling her story, and they both could tell.

"Teo options. Shirtless or," he paused to grab one of his t-shirts from his drawer, "Mine," he said tossing it over to her.

She looked down at the shirt, and flipped it over her head. Then noticed the way Brandon saw it. It was another claim to her, that for once she liked. But they had a lot more to sort through first. She sat on the other end of the bed and tucked her knee underneath her.

Callie had seriously thought she had been being selfless. If she could forget Brandon, Jude could stay. If she helped Wyatt, he would get better. If she was able to stay away from Brandon he could get a free pass to break a few promises.

But she hadn't even considered Brandon's feelings. He wanted and cared for Callie, and now was in serious pain and confusion.

"After the park, I went to Wyatt's party, and I was going to end it with him. But then he had some sort of break down, and I couldn't do it. It wouldn't of been right. He needed me, so I gave in. When I got home from the party your mom trusted me. Do you know how long it's been since an adult trusted me? I couldn't go back on that. But I still wanted you. So I thought, if I could forget, we both could move on, for now. I was dumb about it, but I was irrational," she shook her head and looked up at Brandon.

"So you did that with Wyatt to try to forget me? How far would you have gone to erase me? Callie?" his voice was raw, and a little angry. It felt like she was blaming him, and it wasn't his fault.

"I don't know. I just thought I would hurt you eventually if we tried, and I didn't want that. And now it sounds like I'm blaming all of this on you, and it's not your fault. It's all mine, all of it. And I regret it, but I can't go back in time. I can't erase any of my past, and that sucks. And somehow you still want me," Callie shook her head some more, but nothing left her mind.

Years of foster homes had made her selfish to some degree. She didn't care about people, she cared about her and Jude. And that was it. No one else, until now. And she wasn't sure how to handle it.

Brandon looked confused. Not even his mind could piece this together. She was too broken for him to get, and they were so close now, Callie would have to live to erase him.

"How do you suppose I react Callie? I want to be angry at you. I want to call you selfish, and I want to walk away from you. But I don't want to at the same time. I just wish you would have come to me. Talked to me, I would have figured something out," Brandon said a frustrated sigh escaping his lips, and he shut his eyes.

Did he hold the right to be angry? He thought he did. She had made promises then broken them. But so had he, hadn't he? Broken a promise to himself and his mother, he kissed Callie.

"You're supposed to walk away. Hurt me, so I don't hurt you," Callie said, looking anywhere but Brandon. She hoped he didn't, but she knew she had pushed him away.

Brandon's eyes snapped open. Did she want him to walk away? No, neither wanted to lose the other, she was trying once again to selfless, but she was just being wrong.

"No. I'm supposed to forgive you. This one time. And the next time, if you ever do something like this, I reserve the right to tie you up, until we work it out again. Because I promised I'm not walking away, and I promised I'd chase after you, and I've broken enough promises tonight," he said reaching for her arm to pull her into him.

She fit back perfectly. Right in his arms. Small weak Callie fit into his arms. She looked up at him, and wondered why he would do this.

She knew he was hurting. She knew he hurt from what she had done. But Brandon forgave her.

"Stay here tonight, Callie. Before all hell breaks loose tomorrow, stay right here," Brandon's request was lower than a whisper. So simple, lay here with Brandon for a few hours.

What hell was he referring to? His moms? Would he be telling them? Or Wyatt? Both would be hell. She didn't share beds with other people, except for Jude, but she felt safe here.

Liam was out there, somewhere, waiting to hurt her. But she didn't care about that. She simply settled into Brandon's arms and shut her eyes.

Did it matter what happened tomorrow? Not to either of them right now. Brandon had forgiven Callie for breaking him to pieces, and he would do it again. Callie had let Brandon in to another piece of her, this time willingly.

But something about it all felt wrong. They were living a lie. For a few hours that lie would continue until daylight. Then whatever happened would happen. But they both knew no one got to runaway this time. No one got an escape route, no one got to lie.

It would be the truth for once. What would the moms say to the broken rule? He didn't know, but right now, he was trying to fix the broken girl in his arms. And she was trying to let him.

* * *

**Authors Note: The whole point is to show how weak and selfish Callie was, how much she has no idea how to love or care for people. And Brandon's not supposed to be the bad guy either. He's supposed to be confused and feeling helpless. everyone is supposed to break, before it can all be put back together. Happy reading!**


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